Mathematics Anxiety From Middle To Late Childhood:Impact Of Contol-Value Appraisals,Dopaminergic System Polygene,and School Climate,and The Mechanisms Of Action

Mathematics anxiety has become a common global phenomenon.The latest mathematics anxiety assessment in 65 countries and regions by the Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD)showed that the percentage of students who felt anxious when solving math problems was as high as 31%,with the mathematics anxiety of Chinese students being higher than international average levels.Studies in China and abroad have shown that high mathematics anxiety leads to low mathematical achievement.In contemporary society,mathematical achievement has become increasingly important for individuals’ overall well-being and is also considered an important predictor of career success.Mathematics anxiety adversely affects individuals’ career choices and career development in adulthood,and would even lead to a shortage of graduates in science,technology,engineering,and mathematics(STEM)fields.It has also been associated with increased healthcare costs,low socio-economic status,low financial literacy,and mortgage defaults.In recent years,mathematics anxiety has received increasingly widespread attention from both educational and clinical fields,as well as from international society.One of the most effective ways to prevent or reduce mathematics anxiety is to reveal the individual genetic,control-value appraisals,and environmental factors that contribute to the onset of mathematics anxiety,as well as their mechanisms of action.Theories such as the control-value theory of achievement emotions and the bio-psycho-social model of dynamic development have confirmed the important role of genetic factors in mathematics anxiety.However,molecular genetic studies in this regard are still theoretical hypotheses,and the genetic black box behind mathematical anxiety remains closed.Previous studies have focused on middle and high school students as well as on college students.However,recent studies have found that mathematics anxiety is already present in elementary school students and that mid-to late-childhood is a critical time period for its onset and development.Moreover,heterogeneity has been observed in its developmental trajectories,with non-mathematics anxiety having an average growth rate.From the above considerations,this study aimed to explore the influence of individual(genetic and control-value appraisals)and environmental factors on mathematics anxiety and their mechanisms of action,as well as its developmental trajectory during middle and late childhood.The study design was as follows: A four-year follow-up study was conducted among1285 Chinese children of Han ethnicity to examine their mathematics anxiety and its developmental trajectory during middle and late childhood(third to sixth grade,from 8.96 to11.96 years old)using a combination of individual-centered and variable-centered approaches.The genetic basis of mathematics anxiety was explored using a polygene research paradigm by selecting the gene loci on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and the candidate genes based on the whole life history of dopamine from dopamine biosynthesis to metabolism,storage,release,inactivation,etc.The mechanisms of action of individual(polygene of the dopamine system,mathematical confidence,and mathematical value)and environmental factors(perceived school climate)on mathematics anxiety and its developmental trajectory were investigated under the framework of the cognition-heredity-environment model of the development and change of mathematics anxiety.The findings were as follows:Regarding the developmental trajectory of mathematical anxiety during middle and late childhood(8.96?11.96 years old),this study found the following:(1)The general development of mathematical anxiety persistently decreased during middle and late childhood.Further,inter-individual differences were significant for both the initial level and the growth rate of mathematical anxiety.Children with higher initial mathematical anxiety scores had lower growth rates.(2)The development of mathematics anxiety during middle and late childhood involved three heterogeneous trajectories: moderately stable(32.15%),moderate decrease(64.31%),and moderate increase(3.54%).Regarding the impact and mechanisms of action of individual(polygene of the dopamine system,mathematical confidence,and mathematical values)and environmental factors(perceived school climate)and the developmental trajectory during middle and late childhood,the study found the following:(1)Higher mathematical confidence was associated with lower mathematics anxiety and lower initial mathematical anxiety levels.In particular,children with higher mathematical confidence were more likely to develop a moderate decrease trajectory rather than moderately stable or moderately increase subgroups.The higher the mathematical value,the lower the mathematical anxiety.The impact patterns of mathematical value on mathematics anxiety may differ across children’s developmental stages.The higher the mathematical value,the lower the initial level of mathematical anxiety and the faster the developmental changes.Children with higher mathematical values were more likely to develop into the moderately decrease rather than the moderate increase or the moderately stable subgroup.The interaction between mathematical confidence and mathematical value significantly predicted mathematics anxiety.In particular,mathematical confidence was a significant predictor of mathematics anxiety among children with high mathematical values but not among those with low mathematical values.The interaction term between mathematical confidence and mathematical value significantly predicted the trajectory subgroups of mathematics anxiety.Among children with high mathematical values,the level of mathematical confidence could not distinguish between moderate increase and moderate decrease trajectories.However,among children with low mathematical values,those with high mathematical confidence levels were more likely to develop moderate decrease rather than moderate increase trajectories.(2)TH(rs2070762),DBH(rs1611115,19 bp Ins/Del),DRD2(rs4245146),DRD3(rs6280),DRD4(48 bp VNTR),ANKK1(rs1800497),DAT1(rs27072),the COMT(rs4680),and MAOA(rs6323)affected mathematics anxiety during middle and late childhood cumulatively.The lower the dopamine function of individuals(the higher the cumulative polygenic score of the dopamine system),the higher the mathematics anxiety levels.The pathogenic mechanism of mathematics anxiety was consistent with the monoamine deficiency hypothesis.This study also provided preliminary evidence supporting the significant role of mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine pathways in mathematics anxiety.The effects of polygenic cumulative scores of the dopamine system on both general and heterogeneous developmental trajectories of mathematics anxiety were insignificant.Better perceived school climate was associated with lower mathematics anxiety levels after one year,as well as with lower initial levels of mathematical anxiety.The interaction between the polygenic cumulative scores of the dopamine system and the perceived school climate varied across time points.The effects of the polygenic cumulative scores of the dopamine system and perceived school climate on both general and heterogeneous developmental trajectories of mathematical anxiety were insignificant.(3)Perceived school climate influenced mathematics anxiety during middle and late childhood through mathematical confidence.It also influenced,to some extent,the likelihood of children’s development into different mathematics anxiety trajectories during middle and late childhood through mathematical confidence.Those who perceived a better school climate had higher levels of mathematical confidence and thus exhibited a moderate decrease rather than a moderately stable or a moderate increase trajectory.(4)Mathematical values moderated the second half of the pathway in which perceived school climate mediated mathematics anxiety through mathematical confidence.This was demonstrated in that perceived school climate influenced mathematics anxiety through mathematical confidence among children with high mathematical values.However,among children with low mathematical values,the pathway in which perceived school climate mediated mathematical anxiety through mathematical confidence did not hold true.This was the first study to examine genetic factors that contribute to mathematics anxiety using a polygenic research paradigm.It was also the first to support that the mechanisms of mathematics anxiety fit the monoamine deficiency hypothesis and provide evidence for the polygenic inheritance of mathematics anxiety.In addition,this study provided evidence to support that mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine pathways significantly affect mathematics anxiety.Although the potential mechanisms underlying the genetic basis of mathematics anxiety require further in-depth investigation,this study’s exploratory findings provide important and useful information to elucidate the genetic basis of mathematics anxiety.As the first study conducted in the background of China to systematically examine the general and heterogeneous developmental trajectories of mathematics anxiety as a whole using both variable-centered and individual-centered approaches,it provides new information to deepen the understanding of mathematics anxiety and its developmental trajectories during middle and late childhood.